Thursday, August 8, 2013

Liverpool owner: We will not sell Suarez!

Liverpool owner John W. Henry has
delivered an emphatic blow to Luis Suarez's hopes of leaving the club,
declaring he will not sell the forward.

Henry has claimed Suarez
will not be sold to Arsenal, the Uruguayan's preferred destination, or
any other European club, for any price.Despite Arsenal having
triggered a £40million clause, Henry described the prospect of selling
Suarez as 'ludicrous' and slammed the 26-year-old striker for
criticising the club in an interview with "The Guardian" on Tuesday.

Liverpool
manager Brendan Rogers, who has consistently backed Suarez despite a
string of controversies, has now accused the player of 'total
disrespect' and ordered him to train away from the first-team squad.

Rodgers' decision was met with Henry's unequivocal backing with Suarez seemingly unwilling to offer an apology for the outburst.

Henry
confirmed he told Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis, Liverpool would
not entertain any offer from the rival club before bids of £35m and
£40,000,001m were made.

"We are not going to sell Luis," Henry said.

"For
all the top clubs it's extremely important (not to sell to a rival) but
especially for Liverpool because we're not in Europe this year and have
not been in the Champions League for a while.

"To sell to a rival for those positions, or one of them, would be ludicrous.

"Liverpool
needs to be playing in Europe, it needs to be playing in the Champions
League, that's what Liverpool football club is about.

"I'm unequivocal that we won't sell to Arsenal, whatever the bid is.

"I
have not said it to Stan (Kroenke, Arsenal's majority shareholder) but I
had a personal conversation with others at Arsenal and told him
(Gazidis) we would not sell to Arsenal."

Henry added it would be no different if a club from outside England made a bid for Suarez.

"He
(Suarez) won't be sold even if a foreign club comes in because we do
not have time to sign a suitable replacement," Suarez said.

"It's a
football reason, it's not about finances, that's why at this point, so
late in the window, with everyone who's already moved or isn't moving,
we can't replace him.

"So for football reasons we can't sell and especially to Arsenal."

Arsenal appears to be the only club to have made a formal bid for Suarez, who scored 30 goals last season.

The Uruguayan made no secret of his preference for a move to Real Madrid but a bid has not been forthcoming.

Suarez is suspended for the first six matches of the upcoming season for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic.